1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to sawhorses and work supports, and more particularly pertains to a novel and improved collapsible sawhorse having detachable legs to facilitate transportation and storage. Carpenters and other construction workers typically employ portable work supports and sawhorses at construction sites to assist in the performance of various operations such as the layout and cutting of construction materials to required dimensions. Because a typical construction worker travels to several different job sites, with each job typically lasting from one day to several weeks, convenient portability of saw horses and work supports is a major concern.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
The field of portable work supports is crowded and includes a relatively great number of different collapsible and portable work supports and sawhorses. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 965,173, which issued on Jul. 24, 1909 to Fassler, discloses a collapsible trestle including pivotal legs secured by rivets to a central beam. U.S. Pat. No. 1,114,336, which issued on Oct. 20, 1914 to Blomqvist, discloses connecting blocks for use in knockdown sawhorses which each include three sockets provided with screw fasteners for securing legs and one end of a central beam portion of the sawhorse. U.S. Pat. No. 1,435,738, which issued on Nov. 14, 1922 to Reiman, discloses a collapsible sawhorse having pivotal legs securable in an erect position by a plurality of retaining pins, each secured against loss by a chain. U.S. Pat. No. 2,698,771, which issued on Jan. 4, 1955 to O'Rourk, discloses a sawhorse having four detachable legs secured in respective sockets by leaf spring mounted retaining pins. A hinged door in one end of the central beam communicates with an elongated storage compartment which receives the detached legs in side-by-side relation for storage. The device disclosed in the patent to O'Rourk requires precise alignment and endwise insertion of the detached legs through a common opening in the end of the sawhorse central beam. U.S. Pat. No. 3,414,080, which issued on Dec. 3, 1968 to Doucette, discloses a collapsible sawhorse including pivotal spring biased legs which store in a collapsed orientation in overlying relation within a central body portion of the sawhorse. U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,405, which issued on Mar. 29, 1977 to Breisch, discloses a knockdown sawhorse having detachable legs including wedge-shaped upper end portions dimensioned for insertion into recesses disposed on opposite ends of the central beam. U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,113, which issued on Jan. 31, 1978 to Pelser, discloses a sawhorse including integrally formed X-shaped leg pairs selectively securable to opposite ends of a central beam by U-shaped retaining pins. U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,938, which issued on Jan. 5, 1982 to Jackson et al., discloses a collapsible sawhorse which employs frame members possessing clamps for the detachable securement of legs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,319, which issued on Dec. 8, 1987 to Sansotta et al., discloses a collapsible sawhorse including pivotal legs which fold into an open-bottomed storage compartment in a central beam portion of the sawhorse.
Among other features of the present invention, it is desirable to provide for convenient storage of the legs of the sawhorse in one or more compartments beneath the work surface, particularly a sawhorse of the type having an upper work surface which will accommodate a conventional type of clamp in a gap in the work surface.